Learning Ally Blog: Access and Achievement

Now more than ever, people with learning and visual disabilities are flourishing in the classroom, launching productive careers and becoming assets in their communities. This blog spotlights remarkable individuals who demonstrate that having a visual or print disability is no barrier to educational success.

Princeton, NJ, April 14, 2010 – During the latter half of April, thousands of volunteers across the United States will lend their voices to a unique initiative making books accessible for individuals including students and veterans who cannot read standard print.

The national Record-A-Thon campaign, staged by the nonprofit Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), is a 'tour de force' of volunteerism, philanthropy, and community engagement. At RFB&D's recording studios throughout the country, volunteer readers will log extra hours at the microphone to transform printed textbooks into easy-to-navigate audio books – enabling hundreds of thousands of people with visual and learning disabilities to achieve educational success.

"For years, local RFB&D units around the country have conducted their own successful Record-A-Thons,” notes Andy Malavsky, RFB&D's Chief Marketing Officer. "Now we are raising the bar on a national level, mobilizing thousands of volunteers to record more books, generate funds, and escalate public attention toward millions of individuals with learning differences – and their potential to flourish from kindergarten to graduate school and beyond.”

At numerous RFB&D studios, Record-A-Thon volunteers will join forces with an array of celebrities, local authors, civic leaders and businesses. At RFB&D's Northern California Unit in Palo Alto, ESPN commentator and former NFL quarterback Steve Young will visit, along with Congresswoman Anna Eshoo and children's author Ellen Klages. The Chicago Loop studio will welcome Congressman Danny Davis, Alderman Ed Burke and Chicago Teachers Union president Marilyn Stewart; while the Denver facility will host Colorado State Senator Linda Newell, author Helen Thorpe, and several well-known local TV news anchors. The New York City studio recently enjoyed a visit from former presidential adviser Vernon Jordan, while RFB&D's Cambridge facility will be graced with readers from the Junior League of Boston, Bank of America, and employees of many other area corporations.

Founded in 1948, RFB&D® serves more than 250,000 K-12, college and graduate students, as well as veterans – all of whom cannot read standard print due to blindness, visual impairment, dyslexia, or other disability. RFB&D's collection of nearly 60,000 digitally recorded textbooks and literature titles – delivered through internet downloads, new assistive technology devices, and CD – is the largest of its kind in the world. More than 5,000 volunteers across the U.S. help to record and process the books, which students rely on to achieve educational success.

RFB&D, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, state and local education programs, as well as the generous contributions of individuals, foundations and corporations. For more information, visit www.rfbd.org.